24 Season Opener - Part I

Last night the wife and I watched part one of the season opener for ‘24’, Fox’s annoyingly addictive high-tech thriller.

Jack Bauer is back after some sort of cockamamie plot twist that sent him to a Chinese prison camp for two years, terrorists are once again killing innocent Americans, and everyone’s favorite sultry nerdess Chloe is back at the help desk in CTU repositioning the satellites and setting up firewalls. Rawr! (Presumably, on most days things are less exciting for Chloe. She spends her time re-setting user passwords and installing Windows security updates.)

Just once shouldn’t these characters look at each other and wonder why their lives are normal for 364 days, then suddenly they have one 24-hour stretch of time that begins at 6AM and then gets crazier and more outlandish every passing hour? Because in never takes them a few days to figure out that the terrorists, all along, had a ‘Plan B’ (and C, and D) - but it always takes them, on that magic day, only three hours. I picture the characters, both the terrorists and the federal agents alike, getting wise to this endlessly-repeating situation, and tapping on the fourth wall of the TV pane, asking to be released from the absurdity of this predicament – sort of The Purple Rose of Cairo meets Tom Clancy.

But regardless of the exponential silliness with which this story unfolds – there are some semi-quality dramatic moments. The season begins with the country experiencing suicide-bomber attacks that have killed hundreds of people. In one scene a gentleman with darker skin and an Arabic-sounding accent is pounding on the glass of a city bus as it pulls away. He needs a ride to work, the bus driver doesn’t want to let him on, and nobody on the bus is saying anything. But then, surprise: A moment or two later an Asian-looking gentleman in the back of the bus gets a very serious look on his face, clicks a button on his MP3 player, and the bus explodes.

So remember folks, either judge people who don’t look or speak like you with equal unfairness and ethnic stereotyping, or simply take a bicycle to work. Also, you might want to consider purchasing the extended warranty on your next MP3 player. Apparently some models have an even bigger problem than those faulty Dell battteries.

And tonight they’re supposed to bust out the nukes. Awesome! Tune in for Part 2.

Update: Link to part 2 of the season opener for 24 here.